Additional changes announced for short-staffed Cedar Rapids Animal Care & Control

CEDAR RAPIDS — Cedar Rapids Animal Care & Control will now report directly to the City Manager’s office in a move meant to better support the animal welfare agency amid ongoing staffing issues.

The change was made late last week, prior to which animal control staff reported to the Cedar Rapids Police Department. Assistant to the City Manager Amanda Grieder said the change should help better foster interdepartmental aid for the city-run shelter.

“This should help provide additional resources” to Animal Care & Control, Grieder said. “We have a citywide view of operations overall (at the City Manager’s Office), so we can look at things and say ‘OK here are some resources that we can put toward Animal Care & Control.’”

The change accompanies updates to the center’s staffing structure first publicized Saturday in an online post from Police Chief David Dostal. Per Dostal’s post, the shelter is working to hire seven temporary, part-time workers to restore consistent shelter hours and maintain animal care levels.

In addition, Grieder said Thursday that the city has also opted to add three full-time positions to the shelter staff including an additional animal control officer, animal control coordinator and a lead shelter technician.

Earlier this year, the shelter was forced to periodically close to the public among ongoing staffing issues. The shelter was still taking in new animals during that time, but community members were unable to visit the shelter to socialize with potential adoptees.

The new part- and full-time staff should help stabilize day-to-day shelter work, Grieder noted, while the city seeks a qualified third-party entity to complete a robust review of shelter operations and staffing.

Grieder said that review will include a deep dive into the shelter’s staffing levels, facility conditions and volunteer engagement levels, as well as offer potential improvements to any identified deficiencies.

“We’re really looking at how we can improve our volunteer program and community outreach, and just our overall regulatory compliance, adoption trends and enforcement strategies,” Grieder said.

The city has already put out a request for proposals to identify that third-party reviewer with an application deadline of July 7. The timeline afterward is not yet finalized, although Grieder said the goal is to have the review completed by this fall.

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